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Mind you this is Alonso we're talking about, give him even just the sniff of a competitive car and he'll be there or thereabouts. Still one of the best drivers on the grid.
Come on folks – IT’S ONLY TESTING!
Yes - but when was the last time a team had a really poor test, then turned up at the first race with a great car?
McLaren are looking a mid-mid-field team at best on current form. They are nearly 2 seconds slower than Red Bull.
They are nearly 2 seconds slower than Red Bull.
So is pretty much everyone! 🙂
I see your point though, same engines etc combined with all of the '3rd best chassis on the grid' malarkey from last season. Yep, all a bit humble pie at the McLaren camp! Still time to make a thrilling comeback in Melbourne tho 🙂
there appears to be a lack of "professionalism" required to be a top f1 team at the moment, too many avoidable errors and self inflicted issues.
Anyone know whether the Now TV deal is in HD?
McLaren lapping 25 seconds faster than Merc. Might as well just give them the trophies now and not bother with the rest of the season.
Shall we start a sweepstake on how many laps it'll be before something terminal afflicts the McLaren?
I'm going to go with a hopeful sixty laps.
BTW, does anyone have any info on the top speeds achieved by teams during testing so far?
Shall we start a sweepstake on how many laps it’ll be before something terminal afflicts the McLaren?
Christ, if they can't figure out which way round the wheels go on, it's not surprising they keep having problems. Pitstop video online if you scroll down a bit here:
http://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog
hols2
Christ, if they can’t figure out which way round the wheels go on, it’s not surprising they keep having problems. Pitstop video online if you scroll down a bit here:
Jees, they're having a shocker [img] 
[/img] Leaf blowers pointing at the engine cover too
They're swapping to supersofts...will be interesting to see the comparative pace.
But at least nothing is on fire. Yet.
LOL at that pitstop!
That pitstop was simply amazing! If only there were markings on the outer facing sidewall to help them, oh hang on.... lol
Hmm Vettel smashes lap record, but how much of that is the new surface and how much is the step from last year. Anyhow we now know Ferrari will be world champions this year, for sure.
Re Now TV:
Thanks Kryton
So that tally was 46 laps then a 6.5hr engine change - ouch
Wow, 1:17.18 from sebbo
Headline testing times mean very little (MB haven't even brought any hyper soft tyres with them). On the long runs, MB were looking rather strong today.
I thought Ferrari have been looking very strong, they've shown that they have got both reliability and speed. Yep, sure, all the usual winter testing caveats apply, but from as far as we can tell anything it looks like it's gonna be a close one between them and Mercedes, with Red Bull snapping at their heels also. Kind of the same as last year! But possibly this time Red Bull will be strong from the start of the season instead playing catch-up for the first half...
How is "rich energy drinks" a company I have never heard of and never seen their products in a shop about to stump up £200M for force India?
Still don't really understand how red bull have so much money is the energy drink business just a giant money laundering scam or something?
A can of Red Bull probably costs 10 cents to produce, their markup is enormous. They are basically just a marketing company selling caffeinated sugar water to stupid rich people. They have been very successful at branding themselves as cool by sponsoring extreme sports.
Rich Energy Drinks just seems to be a front for somebody else with money. Whether there is actually any real money there is another question. I wouldn't believe anything until the money is in the bank. The rumored buyer may just be Vijay Mallya trying to jack up the price by making it appear that there is a bidding war going on. SFI are going to struggle to finish higher than 6th in the teams' championship this year, 7th or 8th seem more realistic, so Mallya will be desperate to sell while the team is still worth something. By this time next year, he probably won't be able to give it away.
Alonso has broken down again
McLaren broked again!
🙂
it's leaking fluids
I've never been a big McLaren fan, but still wanted them to be in competitive. However, after that shitty propaganda piece on Amazon I kinda feel like they're now getting everything they deserve - Honda need to up their Twitter trolling game though
I think that Honda have delivered a trolling masterclass by clocking up so many trouble free miles.
It does point to McLaren being piss poor at the installation doesn't it. It may just be new engine supplier/tam interface issues that will be sorted by Melbourne but if it is a genuine problem on the McLaren side I can imagine how vindicated the Honda people must feel!
And McLaren have never been known for their rock-solid reliability. They lost numerous championships and race wins because of fragile cars.
McLaren are definitely pushing the aero envelope, but there've been a number of silly issues in testing that should never have happened - wheelnuts, broken cabling clips, etc.
You almost get the feeling that the engine supplier gives them the requirements, then McL rip it up and do their own version as they know best. Apparently they've been cutting big holes in the bodywork again?
They obviously have a lot of aero work to do back at base, which could mean a new engine cover and will have repercussions for the whole aero package.
Given that Toro Rosso had exactly the same time constraints in which to get a new engine and drivetrain package to fit a chassis very late in the day, McLaren's failure to capitalise on Renault's development head start is quite galling.
I reckon that there will be a high profile sacking there before too long (and I don't mean Fernando).
So my big question for the day is: why have Williams taken Kubica off the rosta, despite setting all of Williams' fastest times? Was he too fast and beginning embarrass the other two?!?
So my big question for the day is: why have Williams taken Kubica off the rosta, despite setting all of Williams’ fastest times? Was he too fast and beginning embarrass the other two?!?
...daddy Stroll has had a word!
Haha!
Good omen for McLaren, much faster at changing engines today.
Well, they've had plenty of practice.
Interesting that Merc don't seem to have done a qualifying sim - they must be very confident.
And Toro Rosso have used 3 Honda engines this test - so they're either - a) aren't as reliable as we think or b) have been trying different versions (all of which are reliable!).
Well that's testing over.
I think all we can conclude is that even with the best engine Williams have built a very slow car! It's not had any serious pace in any of the test days.
Its testing, so any conclusion is pointless. Wait till after the first race before then conclusions will be obvious.
Also mclaren set the 3rd fastest time of the whole test, shame it won't make it to the end of the race...
Apparently Kubica 'volunteered to step down for the day to give the other two guys more time to practice' . Yeah right!!!! Chinny rackon my friends lol
Kubica is and always has been a prodigious talent.
It does Stroll and Sirotkin no harm at all to have him waiting in the wings. The legal small print of their respoective contracts will make for interesting reading.
Such a shame they couldn't give him a seat!!